


Breaking Point

by AromaticAromantic



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: :), Abuse, Background Ships Only, Blindness, Food Deprivation, Gen, Hostage Situation, Implied Murder, Kidnapping, Murder, Promise, Tags to be added, Water Deprivation, Whumptober 2020, basically lots of disabled characters, brain damaged remus, death of villain, message me at sometimesiwriteangst if youre triggered by certain villain sides, mystery villain side, narcoleptic roman, no other deaths, paraplegic patton, that way i can warn you, um, whumptober 2020 fic, without giving spoilers to others
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:01:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26751769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AromaticAromantic/pseuds/AromaticAromantic
Summary: Janus wakes up somewhere cold and dark, at the mercy of an unknown kidnapper. Getting out is hard, getting away is harder.For Whumptober 2020.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman Sanders/Dr Emile Picani, other minor background ships
Kudos: 21





	1. Let's Hang Out Sometime

Janus’ head rang as the achiness began to wake him up. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say he was “coming to”, or “regaining consciousness”. He didn’t remember falling asleep. Or being in bed. Or...anything…

No, he remembered walking home from work. He’d been planning on visiting his brother, but he didn’t recall ever getting there…

He slowly opens his eyes, yawning and trying to make sense of his surroundings through the strange fog his head seemed to be in. He goes to rub his eyes, and becomes aware of the distinct coldness of metal against his wrists. He tries to look at them, but as he twists - painfully and slowly - he realises they’re tight behind him, and somehow it’s too painful to twist that far.

He looks around, sees faint outlines in the shadows, although he can’t make out any details. Where is he? He tries to think, but the tiredness overwhelms him, and soon he’s out again, body falling limp to the ground, his wrists crushed beneath him.

Someone enters the room, the door creaking as they do, and sigh heavily as they walk in, taking a long look at the unconscious person on the ground.

“Whoever you may be, I’m sorry that I may have to hurt you when you next wake up. Not that you can hear me…”

They take a closer look, and then reluctantly start to drag him out. They weren’t the strongest person, and bodies were heavy, but they could manage just fine.

They needed this cell for a different purpose, after all.

When Janus awoke again, he could feel something over his eyes, and he didn’t feel quite so foggy. No, this time he realised with a growing dread that he wasn’t where he was meant to be, and was almost certainly in danger. He moves his wrists slightly, recognising a different texture. Less metal, more...rope?

He groans slightly as he forces himself to sit up, using what seems to be a wall behind him as a tool to do so. He had to remain calm. Whatever was going on, survival was most important. He always told his brother that he’d do whatever it took, in a theoretical emergency situation.

If the plane was going down, you had to put your oxygen mask on before you focus on others, after all.

Not that there seemed to be anyone else around, as far as he knew.

He hoped.

“...Hello?” he hesitantly calls out, and his voice is rough and hoarse. How long was he out for?

Nobody replies, but he thinks he hears breathing and it makes him shiver slightly.

“Hide away, if you will,” he aims for bravado, and shifts his aching shoulders, “it’s not important to me.”

But it was. It was very important. And damn, his brother was going to be worried. He was always the type to worry if you turned up late, even if he claimed otherwise. How was he going to react when Janus simply...didn’t turn up? When he realised Janus was missing?

Maybe Janus was overreacting?

No, actually, he didn’t think he was. He was tied up and blindfolded somewhere, and he didn’t know who had done it, or why. Was it someone he knew? A stranger? He wasn’t sure which was a scarier thought - that someone he knew and potentially trusted had betrayed him, or that his life was in the hands of someone he knew nothing about.

He presses himself back against the cold, presumably stone, wall, feeling the rope grind against his skin uncomfortably, the friction slowly burning his wrists. Janus closes his eyes, breathes in deeply, and tries to ignore how it makes no difference if he opens or closes his eyes, that it’s dark either way.

He tries to ignore the fear of where he could be. Of what’s in store for him.

He tries to ignore the steady breathing of someone in the room with him.


	2. Where Did Everyone Go?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hand issues are making it hard to write :/  
> In which Janus finds isolation hard.

Janus doesn’t know how long he’s been trapped - what else could he call this? - but it was long enough that his stomach hurt from pangs of hunger, and his mouth was dry. He had tried to ignore it, curling up on the floor, trying not to squash his arms in the process, but it was hard to ignore it as it got progressively worse.

But right now, that didn’t matter, because he could smell food. He can’t hear anyone around him today - he  _ knows  _ someone comes in every now and again. He hears their breathing, or a faint chuckle, and even though he calls out to them - bitterly, angrily, desperately - they never answer. But today he hears nothing, except sharp scraping as something is pushed towards him.

He shuffles around carefully, using his knee for touch, his sore hands far out of reach. There’s a faint chuckle again, and Janus grits his teeth. He was proud, but he knew right now wasn’t the time to  _ be  _ proud. He had to just survive. That was all he could focus on. He was good at that, right?

With his knee, he figures there seems to be two bowls - one with water, and one with...something squishy that smells vaguely like overcooked rice. His mouth salivates at the thought of food and water.

“I need my arms,” he says hoarsely.

As if in response, he hears footsteps fading away, and then the slam of a door, followed by a short harsh “ha!”

With a sinking feeling, Janus realises he’s going to have to eat like a dog. But without his sight or arms, he doesn't even know how he’s meant to do that.

He leans forwards shakily, propping himself up awkwardly on one shoulder, cheek pressed against the bowl so he can make sure he knows where it is. And then he slowly, reluctantly, desperately, leans forwards and takes a small mouthful of the food.

Overcooked rice, as he thought it was.

He hesitates before eating another small mouthful. It was bland and tasteless. But nonetheless he ate it anyway, needing to eat something.

He gulps it down almost greedily. Then he turns his attention to the other bowl. He slowly moves towards it to the best of his ability, using his face to identify where it is.

He drinks the water slowly. It's difficult to drink when the bowl is so low down. He finds himself half pressing his face into the water in order to drink it.

He pulls away when finished and soft pants. It's tiring for him to move after so long, it feels, without food and water. Despite his discomfort he lies backwards against the wall and letting himself sleep.

The next day, he assumes, at least, he wakes up to the clatter of the bowl placed in front of him. He's thankful and eagerly eats despite the blow to his pride. He has to remind himself but there's no point in being proud when it could cost him his life.

However it's strange to be alone and he doesn't really know what's going on on you took him and what's going to happen. It was still scary of course it was. The darkness continues to haunt him. Every now and then he wakes up to hear faint breathing in the background.

As if someone is still watching him, once again.

Janus calls into the darkness hoping to hear a reply and all he hears is a faint chuckle. He has to remind himself he has to stay strong, and holds back his tears.


	3. In The Hands Of The Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Janus' kidnapper talks to him at last.

Janus can barely hold himself up against the wall, frequently choosing to give up and lie down against the cold hard floor instead. The measly amount of rice and water he was given each...day? He assumed it was given daily. But regardless, it simply wasn’t enough to make his mouth any less dry, or to make his head stop pounding.

This time he’s awake enough to hear his captor more clearly as the sound of metal scraping precedes footsteps. There’s a loud clank, and then a chuckle, and Janus turns his head in the direction of the noise.

He hears the familiar scrape of two bowls placed in front of him, and hesitates, not hearing his captor leave.

“Why?” he forces himself to ask. “Why me?”

There’s silence, and then another chuckle, before his captor speaks.

“It’s nothing personal, if that’s what you mean. Well, not for you at least. I simply needed...a hostage, so to speak.”

Janus freezes up. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, but one word stood out.

_ Hostage. _

“...Why...do you need a hostage?” he asks, figuring that things couldn’t get much worse than they were, even if he was nosey.

“Personal reasons. Now, eat up, I’ll come and remove your bowls later.”

And with that, Janus is left alone.

Meanwhile, his captor sighs once out of the cell. This old warehouse worked well for holding his victims, but he hated being inside it. The structure was so poor that it was, in fact, the reason it was no longer in use.

When it was shut down in 2002, experts citing how dangerous it was to be used, and how it could fall apart any time...well, he’d known immediately it would be perfect.

Even the homeless population avoided this place. Not that he couldn’t deal with them if needed. Oh, he knew how to deal with people who got too close to his...operations.

He chuckles to himself and heads out of the building, using the side entrance that opened to a mass of wild and tangled plants. Nobody could see him from this angle without purposefully going into the building.

(He’d only had one difficult moment, about eight months ago, when a tourist couple and their dog went to see what the building was. He’d dealt with it.)

But for now, safe from prying eyes, it was time to go home and have lunch before going to work for his afternoon shift.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy this!


End file.
